Lily's Story
by maya selene
Summary: my first l/j :)) fairly mushy and rather stupid at times. see for yourself.


"Ouch!"  
Petunia Bronwell looked up in annoyance as a large tawny owl swooped into the room, dropping an envelope made of heavy, yellow parchment on her head.  
"Hey, get out!" she said as the owl landed near her glass of water and began sipping it up. She swiped at it. "Shoo!"  
The owl gave her an extremely disgruntled look, then spread its wings and flew back out the window.  
Petunia hurried after it and peered anxiously outside to see if anyone had witnessed the peculiar scene that had just taken place. Seeing no one, Petunia breathed a sigh of relief and slammed the window shut. Then she picked up the letter and stomped up the stairs to her sister's room, muttering to herself.  
Lily was at her desk, finishing off an essay on Invisibility Potions. She looked up when Petunia suddenly barged into the room without knocking.  
"You've had a letter from that freak place you go to," said Petunia before Lily could speak. Petunia threw the letter at her. "And mind you write back to them and tell them they're not to keep sending things by owl, someone might see them." She flounced back out of the room, slamming the door behind her.  
Lily sighed and picked up the letter. She didn't know why Petunia always felt so nasty towards her being witch. She tore open the envelope, pulled out a piece of parchment and read:  
  
Dear Miss Lily Bronwell,  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been chosen to be Head girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Head boy will be Mr James Potter of Gryffindor House.  
Being Head boy and Girl, you are both to be taking up certain responsibilities, and the job may not be entered into lightly. If you feel as though you cannot handle the responsibility on hand, please write to us and tell us so that we may elect another Head Girl. We await your owl no longer than the twentieth of August.  
You will find your Head girl badge enclosed in the envelope.  
Yours sincerely,  
Minerva McGonagall (Deputy Headmistress).  
  
Lily stared at the letter, hardly daring to believe it. Was it possible... could she really be Head girl? Slowly, she reached into the envelope again and felt around. Her hands closed on something smooth and sharp, quite unlike the rough feel of the remaining parchment inside. She pulled it and saw the badge, gleaming silver with the words HEAD GIRL printed upon it.  
Lily couldn't help it, she let out a loud scream.  
"Mum! Dad!" she yelled. "I've been made Head girl!"  
She ran down the stairs still yelling. She saw her parents running towards her, to hug her and congratulate her and to admire the beautiful silver badge.  
Nobody noticed the small figure called Petunia slip quietly out the door.  
  
*****  
Lily went to bed that night with a huge smile on her face. She couldn't wait until September, when she could finally begin to undertake the responsibility of being head of the school with James Potter.  
She knew who James was, of course, -everyone did- tall and good looking, captain of Gryffindor in Quidditch, liked by nearly everyone... the list went on. She didn't know him very well, (Lily was a Ravenclaw), but she hoped he would be as enthusiastic as she was about improving the school.  
She turned over in her sleep, still smiling, and ready to dream of things she used to think beyond her reach.  
  
*****  
  
Time seemed to pass ever so slowly those holidays. Lily had gone to Diagon Ally to get her new school things, and had even bought new dress robes to wear at the Seventh Year Formal. Much to Petunia's horror, her parents had gotten Lily a new owl who she immediately christened Nelvin, and had also surprised her with a very long parcel, which turned out to be a broomstick.  
"Wow!" said Lily as it rolled out onto the floor next to her. The broomstick was long and shiny brown with "Cleansweep Five" written on top in blue.  
"It's the very latest model," said her dad proudly. "I asked the salesman.... I only want the best for my Lily after all..."  
"It's wonderful!" said Lily. Then she frowned. "But you must know, I don't fly much..."  
"Well, we thought you could learn," said Mrs Bronwell beaming. "It's our gift for you. We know you'll make a really lovely head girl..."  
"Thanks," said Lily smiling, and she hugged them both.  
And then finally, it was September first, and Lily was at Kings cross Station, waiting to get into Platform Nine and Three Quarters.  
"Bye mum... dad," she said.  
'Goodbye Lily," said Mrs Bronwell. She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. "Send lots of owls, won't you?"  
"I will," Lily promised.  
"Have a good year," said Mr Bronwell.  
With one last wave to her parents, Lily turned to the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten, and walked straight into it. She stumbled out onto Platform Nine and Tree Quarters where the Hogwarts Express stood waiting for her. Glancing around, she saw the usual crowd that was gathered there: nervous looking first years, wizened seventh years... she scanned the crowd, searching for her two best friends, Genevieve Gobswopped and Sara LaBeema.  
She saw James Potter in the crowd, talking to his best friend, Sirius Black. He caught her eye, grinned, and pushed his way through the crowd towards her.  
"Hi," he said. "Congratulations on getting Head Girl."  
"And you," she said, smiling back, but James shook his head.  
" Sorry, I can barely hear you, it's a madhouse in here," he said over the noise. "Never mind, I'll talk to you later. See you." And he was swept off into the crowd.  
"There you are," said a voice in Lily's ear. She looked around and saw Genevieve and Sara behind her. "Come on, we've got a carriage to ourselves..." They helped her pull her bag along to their compartment and hoisted it onto the rack.  
"So, how does it feel being head girl?" said Sara as they sat down.  
"Oh, wonderful," said Lily. "I've got so many ideas on how to improve the school and everything, it's just great..."  
"It wouldn't have anything to do with James Potter though, would it?" said Genevieve as Sara sniggered. "I mean, he is pretty cute and all..."  
"Of course not," said Lily, her face growing hot. "That's not important. The most important thing is..."  
"Yeah, yeah," said Genevieve dismissively. "Who cares? What kind of robes did you get for the Formal?"  
The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough, and Lily was in still high spirits as they reached the castle looming up on the hills at dusk. She took her place at the Ravenclaw table to watch the Sorting, cheering loudly for anyone who was put into Ravenclaw.  
After the last student had been sorted, Professor Dumbledore stood up.  
"Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts," he said, beaming at them all. "Just a few notices before we begin our feast. I'd like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is still out of bounds. There are many creatures in there, not all of them friendly, so I do remind you all to stay out." Lily noticed his eyes flash towards James and Sirius at this point. "I'd also like to remind everyone to keep out of reach of the Whomping Willow unless they wish to be severely shaken and bruised.  
"Now, on happier notes, we have two new teachers. I'd like you all to give a warm welcome to Professor Kettleburn who will be replacing Madame Diress as our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, (scattered applause) and Professor Trelawney who has decided not to attend the feast, but is taking over for Divination.  
"Last but not least, I have great pleasure in announcing the Head boy and girl of Hogwarts for this year. Please give around of applause to Mr James Potter of Gryffindor house and Miss Lily Bronwell of Ravenclaw."  
There were cheers and whistles all around, and Lily flushed ruby red. Then the feast began, and Lily ate cauldron cakes and treacle tarts and drank pumpkin juice until she was full to bursting.  
Soon the feas ended and everyone began to make their way towards their common rooms. Lily stopped in front of an exceptionally large portrait of a castle and said "Sugar Babies!" The door of the castle opened, and Lily stepped through the portrait and into the Ravenclaw common room.  
The common room was a large, square place, filled with beanbags and sofas and armchars and lit by fire torches on the walls. A spiral staircase going up led to the dormitories, and up that staircase and into their dormitories everyone went.  
Lily chose a bed next to Sara's, drew the curtains around her and fell fast asleep.  
  
*****  
  
Next morning dawned bright and sunny, as Lily dressed and went to the Great Hall with Genevieve and Sara for breakfast.  
"What've we got first?" asked Genevieve as she munched on her bacon.  
"Herbology... we're still with the Slytherins, can you believe it?" said Sara. "Then after that we've got Astronomy with the Gryffindors."  
"Oh, well, at least that's something to look forward to," said Lily, thinking she might be able to have a word with James about her ideas on improving the school.  
Herbology was held in Greenhouse Six, that day, where particularly dangerous plants were kept.  
"Today we're going to be working on Spittoffs," said Professor Sprout cheerily. She pointed to a vicious looking plant that had three eyes and a nasty looking mouth. "Spittoffs spit out tiny balls of fire when you come too close to them, but once those fireballs hit something solid, they turn into a rare kind of ant that can be used in Vanishing Potions." She held up a tin can. "Our mission is to collect as many ants possible for Professor Hillaway."  
It was hard work collecting the ants, especially with the Slytherins who kept aiming their Spittoffs at the Ravenclaws so that they spat their fireballs straight onto their bare skin.  
"Ouch!" said Sara for the third time as she was hit at the back of the neck. She shot a nasty look at the Slytherin who had aimed it at her and bent down to pick up the ant.  
"I'll be glad when this is over," Lily muttered as her Spittoff shot a fireball at her and singed a small hole in her robes.  
Next they had Astronomy and went up to the Astronomy Tower for a theory lesson. The Gryffindor's were already there. Lily quickly dumped her books on the table next to James.  
"Oh, hello," said James, looking mildly surprised to see her there. "Sorry, I was saving that seat for Sirius..."  
"Butut I need to talk to you about something," Lily said quickly. "It's just that I had this idea on the holidays and I have to talk to you about it first because you're head boy..."  
"Oh, okay, then. Never mind Sirius, he can find somewhere else to sit. So what's your big idea?"  
But before she could say a word, Professor Sinistra swooped into the room in her midnight blue robes.  
"Good morning class," she said. "Today we will be discussing the planetary movement during the month of July..."  
As she droned on, the class sank into its usual stupor and Lily was able to talk to James without interruption.  
"It's about house-elves," she whispered to him. "Do you know that Hogwarts has the largest number of house-elves then in any other dwelling in England?"  
"So?" said James blankly.  
"So, they don't get paid!" said Lily. "They make our beds and cook our breakfasts and light our fires but they don't get a single penny for it, or any days off, or sick leave or... well, you get the picture. Anyway, my idea was that we could organize for Dumbledore to give them one day off, and once they see how much fun it is being free, they'll be able to stand up for themselves and ask for paying and--"  
James suddenly gave a loud snort of laughter which earned him a dark look from Professor Sinistra.  
"You don't know much about house-elves do you?" he whispered to her after Professor Sinistra's back was turned.  
"Yes I do!" said Lily hotly. "I researched them for nearly all of last year because I was trying to make a kind of rebellion on elf rights. It didn't work out so well though," she said, going a bit red, "because not that many people joined. But--"  
James leaned in closer to her so that Professor Sinistra wouldn't hear him talking.  
"Listen, Lily, the reason nobody joined is because most people know that house-elves love their jobs. They like working for free. They'd think it'll be above their station to be payed."  
"That's because they've all been brainwashed," Lily began but Professor Sinistra cut her off.  
"Perhaps Miss Bronwell and Mr Potter will be kind enough to discuss their social lives at a more appropriate time," she said icily. "Potter, sit at that table over there by the window. Miss Bronwell, stay here."  
Which put an end to their conversation.  
  
*****  
  
Lily was still determined to give the elves back their dignity and rights, so the next morning at breakfast, she hunted James down just as he was about to leave the Great Hall.  
"Oh, hi, Lily," he said, glancing at his watch. "I need to get ready for class so--"  
"I need to talk to you," she said. "About house-elves."  
"Oh, are you still onto that?," said James. He sighed. "You're not going to give up on this, are you?"  
"No I'm not, not until house-elves get proper pay and days off--"  
"Listen, Lily, have you ever been down to the kitchens?"  
Lily stared at him. "No, why would I--"  
"Well, I have loads of times, and they like their jobs. Look, I'll show you..."  
He grabbed Lily's arm and dragged her into the entrance hall.  
"Are we allowed to be going down into the kitchens by ourselves?"  
James shrugged, led her through a door and down a flight of stone steps. He stopped in front of a painting of a large silver fruit bowl.  
"James, I don't think..."  
"Just tickle the pear and it'll open."  
Lily tentatively reached out a forefinger and tickled the bright green pear which gave a chuckle and promptly turned into a large green door handle. James pushed the door open and Lily suddenly found herself in the midst of about a dozen smiling, bowing and curtsying house-elves.  
"Hello, sirs and miss," said one excitedly, stepping forward. "Would you like to a cup of tea?"  
"No thanks," said James. "I just wanted to show Lily how.... how nice it is in here."  
The house-elves beamed at him.  
"Well, I..." said Lily, at loss for words. She saw house-elves busily washing up and cleaning and cooking, but they were smiling as they were doing it. "Looks like... it looks like you guys really like your jobs, huh?"  
"Oh yes," said the house-elf beaming. "Chinky is simply loving it here at Hogwarts. We all is." He gestured happily around the room. "We is all very proud to be working here for Professor Dumbledore, miss."  
James gave her a look as if to say, I-told-you-so. Lily chose to ignore it.  
"But you get paid, don't you?" she said to Chinky. "And you get holidays and everything, right?"  
Chinky shook his head vigorously. "No, miss, that is not the point of a house-elf. House-elves isn't supposed to be getting paid and we is not wanting days off. We like work much better."  
"Oh, but you must get tired of working sometimes," said Lily, starting to feel a bit irritable. "You must get tired of doing everything just because someone tells you to..."  
"Oh no, miss," said Chinky, shaking his head again. "Chinky is thoroughly delighted that Hogwarts wants me to work so much. Elves has no right to be tired, not when there is work to be doing."  
"Oh, for heavens' sake," Lily snapped, now properly annoyed. "You have as much right as anyone else to be tired or angry or... or anything else you might be feeling! Why don't you all ask for paying and holidays and... and proper clothing and everything else you deserve?"  
Her comments were met by a very ugly silence.  
"Come on," James muttered in her ear, steering her towards the door. "You've just offended them all now... let's go, we're late for class"  
Fuming, Lily marched out the door and back into the Entrance Hall, James right behind her.  
"See, I told you they were happy," said James. "You heard Chinkey, they love their jobs. Now, can we forget about this whole elf thing and work on something sensible?"  
Lily stared at him furiously. "You can give up if you want to," she said hotly, "But I'm certainly not. I've going to give elf's their rights and freedom and... and you can't stop me! You are rude, and arrogant and... and you don't care about anyone but yourself! I'm going to do this alone if I have to. Goodbye."  
With that, Lily whirled around and stalked back to her common room.  
  
*****  
  
Lily was true to her word, she researched and worked on elf rights every time she had a spare moment- which was not very often with all the extra work she had to do with her N.E.W.Ts.  
She was still furious at James for taking her elf idea as some sort of joke. He had made a few attempts of speaking to her in corridors or during classes, but as she pointedly ignored him each time, he soon gave up.  
Then something happened that drew the house-elves straight from her mind.  
She was walking down the corridor with Genevieve and Sara after Transfiguration (their last subject for the day) when she saw a huge mob of seventh years all crowded around a bulletin board.  
"What's happening?" asked Genevieve, trying to peer over everyone's heads. Lily, Sara and Genevieve managed to push their way to the front and saw a large notice pinned up which read:  
  
Seventh Year Formal  
To be held on the 14th of November in the Great Hall  
From 7:30 till Midnight  
Dress robes are to be worn and partners can be taken, if you wish.  
  
"Ooh," said Sara as the three of them, having seen the notice, pushed their way back out of the crowd and began heading back down to their Common Room. "I wonder if anyone'll ask me to the Formal."  
"I hope Cyril Diggory from Hufflepuff will ask me," said Genevieve with a bit of a giggle. "He's so cute... what's up, Lily?"  
Lily was looking rather gloomy and wasn't contributing to the conversation which was very rare for her.  
"I'll have to go with James," she said miserably. "The heads have to go together to open the Formal remember? And we're not even talking!"  
Sara looked at her in sympathy.  
"Oh, well. At least you won't have to worry about finding a partner, and perhaps you two would have made up by then... ohh, do you think I'd be game enough to ask Frank Longbottom to go with me?"  
She and Genevieve dissolved into giggles and immediately engaged themselves into a longs conversation about possible couples, but Lily trailed along behind them. If she and James still weren't talking, the entire formal would be miserable.  
  
*****  
Lily went to Arithmancy alone the next day. Sara and Genevieve had both chosen to do Divination instead, but Lily, who suspected that Divination involved a lot of guess work, had chosen to do something more solid and reliable.  
Arithmancy was a mixed class with the Gryffindors. Normally, Lily didn't mind, the Gryffindors were far better to work with then the Slytherins. But today, Lily felt as though she'd rather have spent the entire day with no one to talk to but that horrible Severus Snape, rather then face James again.  
Lily took a seat by herself near the window- she didn't feel like talking to anyone- when somebody came up behind her and put their books down next to her.  
Lily glanced up. It was James. She picked up her books again and began to move, but James grabbed her arm.  
"No, wait," he said. "Please." Lily reluctantly sat back down. James seemed to take this as a good sign and smiled.  
"I needed to talk to you about something," he said. Lily didn't say anything. So James went on. "I just want to say I'm really sorry that we got off to such a bad start. I know I should've taken the house-elves a bit more seriously and everything... anyway, I'm sorry. And since the Formal's coming up, I thought we'd better, you know, make a fresh start. So... if I ask you now, would you say yes if I asked you to go to the Formal with me? 'Cause even if you say no, you'll have to come with me anyway." He grinned at her. "Come on, you can't still be mad...."  
Lily sighed and rather reluctantly, smiled back. "No, I suppose can't...  
"So you'll go with me?" he asked hopefully.  
"I'll go with you."  
"Good." James stood up grinning broadly. "I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall at about seven then, okay?"  
He picked up his books and moved back next to Sirius, leaving Lily in considerably higher spirits then she was in before.  
  
*****  
After much waiting, and many discussions about dress robes and such, the day of the ball had finally come. Genevieve and Sara had both managed to find partners, Genevieve had gotten her wish and was going with Cyril Diggory, while Sara had been less lucky and was going with Evan Cunnings who was a fellow Raveclaw (Frank Longbottom, it turned out, was going with Georgianna Hallop from Gryffindor).  
After a rather perplexing lesson of Charms, Lily, Genevieve and Sara hastened to their dormitory so they could take their time in getting ready for the Formal.  
Lily took a long, hot bath in the Prefects' bathroom, using many of the beautifully scented soaps and oils, then went back downstairs to her dormitory to get changed.  
Lily had chosen long, pale blue robes of silk for the Formal, and had piled her bright red hair on top of her head, topping it off with a diamond tiara Mrs Bronwell had surprised her with in that morning's mail. She also added, as a final touch, the necklace her parents had bought her from Diagon Alley for her sixteenth birthday, which had a golden locket on it encrusted with a large ruby that was meant to sing when she got close to her true love.  
She emerged from the dormitory to the common room to meet Genevieve and Sara, feeling a bit self conscious at everyone staring at her as she was going down the stairs.  
"Lily!" Genevieve said, gawping at her. She was looking very pretty herself in hot pink robes and was staring at Lily in utmost shock. "You look, you look..."  
"Beautiful!" Sara squealed excitedly. She was wearing robes of pale lavender with a wreath of flowers on her head. "Wow, who would of thought you could look like that?!"  
"Thanks a lot!" Lily said in mild indignation.  
"Oh, look, here comes Evan..." said Genevieve. Lily turned around to see Evan Cunnings, in dark blue robes, coming up to join them.  
'Hi, Sara," he said. "You look really nice."  
"Thanks," said Sara smiling at him. He gazed around.  
'Hi Genevieve," he said, "hi..." he goggled when he saw her. "Lily! You look so, so..."  
"Beautiful?" Genevieve suggested. "Immaculate? Brilliant? Unbelievably, incredibly, perfect?"  
"Yeah, well..." Evan looked embarrassed and turned to Sara. "Shall we go down?"  
"Sure." Sara took his arm and Genevieve and Lily followed them up to the Entrance Hall.  
"Oh, there's Cyril," said Genevieve and she drifted off to meet him, leaving Lily to find James on her own.  
Lily pushed through the mass of colored robes, everyone in them looking excited and apprehensive, until finally, she saw James in a pair of jade green robes talking to Sirius and Remus.  
"Hi," she said, touching James' shoulder. James turned to look at her. His jaw dropped.  
"Wow, Lily, you look so... wow..." James' jaw flapped uselessly. Sirius and Remus were both gawping at Lily as well. Lily looked embarrassed, but was saved by Professor Dumbledore making an announcement.  
"Hello, to all of you," he said, beaming around at them as the room fell silent. "I now declare the Seventh Year Formal... open!" At his words, the doors to the Great Hall swung open and everyone gasped. The hall had been decorated by hundreds of dancing fairies each holding twinkling, winking lights.  
"Shall we go?" said James, finding his tongue at last. Lily accepted his arm and they both stepped into the Hall and walked up to the Prefects' table.  
A huge banquet had been set out for them. Plates and plates of food was set before them, but they took a peculiarly short time to empty, and before Lily knew it, the Crazy Witches (the band that Dumbledore had hired as special guests) had struck up a fast tune and James was pulling her up.  
"Come on, we're supposed to dance," he hissed, and dragged Lily out on to the dance floor.  
Lily, feeling a bit embarrassed that everyone was watching her, waltzed around the floor with James, occasionally stepping on his toes, but he just smiled tolerantly. Eventually, everyone else began to filter on and dance as well. Lily glanced around her. She caught sight of Severus Snape dancing past with his partner, giving James a very nasty look as he went by. James glared back.  
"Snape," he said, shaking his head in disgust. "Evil, greasy-haired kid he is..." and Lily had to struggle not to laugh, because Snape's hair really was quite disgusting.  
She caught sight of Genevieve and Cyril and Sara and Evan through the crowd and grinned at them. Then she saw Remus dancing with a huge Hufflepuff girl who was almost twice his size. He kept throwing murderous looks at Sirius who was dancing with a very pretty Gryffindor seventh year. James noticed where she looking and grinned.  
"Remus was too shy to ask anyone to the formal, so Sirius said he'd set him up with someone," he told her. "He didn't mention she'd be about three times as big as him though..." And Lily had to stiffle another laugh.  
The song ended and the Crazy Witches struck up a much slower tune. James pulled Lily closer to him and they began to dance more slowly.  
"Having fun?" he asked, and Lily nodded.  
Suddenly, to Lily's shock, the ruby on her necklace began to glow bright red and a soft, gentle song came from it... it was about the waves, and the sea and the sand and about... love.  
"What's that?" said James, looking curiously down at the necklace.  
"Oh..." Lily said, thinking the necklace must have been broken. "It does that sometimes. Do you want to get a drink?"  
And she dragged James to a table before he could say another word.  
The ruby was still glowing bright red, but thankfully, it had stopped singing. They were soon joined at the table by Sirius and his partner, a girl named Penelope McFallingtom whom Lily recognized from her Astronomy class.  
"Hi," said Sirius as they sat down. He surveyed the crowd. "Remus and Susie MacMillan make a good pair, don't you think?" He grinned devilishly as everyone on the table burst into laughter.  
"That was too cruel," said James, shaking his head. "Poor Remus..."  
"Oh, well, he told me to set him with someone, and she is quite good looking..." Sirius got up. "See you, Prongs," he said, and he led Penelope back to the dance floor.  
"Why does he call you that for?" Lily asked curiously.  
James grinned. "Our secret. Come on, let's dance some more."  
Lily spent a very enjoyable evening dancing with James, and was most disappointed when midnight came and it ended.  
"I'll walk you back to your common room," James offered as they filed out of the Great Hall.  
'How do you know where it is?" Lily asked him, surprised.  
"Oh... found out in my fifth year," said James vaguely, and he wouldn't say any more about it.  
Lily shrugged. "Don't bother, I can go down myself."  
"Okay... if you're sure. Goodnight then, Lily."  
"'Night, James."  
And they both went their separate ways.  
  
*****  
  
Winter dawned on the castle and soon it began snowing, thick and fast. Lily spent most of her days in the Library studying, or else in the common room with Genevieve and Sara playing exploding snap- unless of course, there was a Quidditch match going on (Slytherin had taken the lead for the House cup).  
Drawing near to the Christmas holidays, Lily received an owl from her mother which read:  
  
Dearest Lily,  
I can't tell you how sorry I am to say this, but you can't come over for Christmas this year. Your father and I have to leave for New Zealand at once, your grandmother has taken ill. Petunia is staying with her friend Marge Dursley from Smeltings.  
I daresay you'll have a merry Christmas at Hogwarts anyway, and your father and I will be thinking of you, even if we can't spend the day with you.  
Lots of love from,  
Mum  
  
Lily was the only Ravenclaw seventh year to be staying for Christmas that year, everyone else was going elsewhere. Genevieve was staying at her parents' holiday house in Paris and Sara was forced into going to a big family reunion.  
"You'll probably end up having a better time than me though, even if you are staying at the school," said Sara, rather gloomily. She came from a very big wizarding family and didn't much look forward to having her cheeks pinched by ancient aunts.  
So on Christmas morning, Lily awoke alone in her dormitory just in time to see Nelvin swoop into the room holding a very small parcel in his beak and drop it next to her.  
It turned out to be a cheap plastic bracelet from Petunia, evidently she had forgotten that Lily was now seventeen and had no use for such things.  
Lily's other presents proved to be much more satisfactory, from her parents she had received a new wizard Polaroid camera, from Genevieve she had gotten a crystal ball in which there was a miniature solar system hanging in mid air inside, from Sara; a ring which flashed different colors depending on her mood, and heaps of Muggle presents from various aunts and uncles.  
Lily went into the Great Hall and sat down for breakfast. The only other Ravenclaws where three fourth year girls and a couple of first and second years.  
Glancing over at the other tables, she saw, that like her, James Potter was the only seventh year at his table (he grinned at waved at her when she caught his gaze) and the only other people she recognized were Severus Snape and his friend Gordan Cumpoff, both of who where in deep conversation at the Slytherin table.  
After breakfast, Lily decided to go to the library, she wanted to finish off reading a book without having the other Ravenclaw's bother her in the common room--she knew they'd probably be in the mood for exploding snap as the snow was now falling very thickly from the sky.  
She made her way to the library, and had just settled herself in a chair by the fire, when something grabbed her around the neck. She yelped, looked around to see what it was, and found herself staring up at the grinning face of James Potter.  
"What are you doing here?" she said, a little grumpy at being interrupted.  
"Merry Christmas to you, too," James said laughing. He shrugged. "D'you want to come to Hogsmeade with me?"  
"Why?" said Lily suspiciously.  
"Nothing else to do.... and I'd rather have you than Snape."  
"Thanks a lot!" Lily aimed a punch at him, but James dodged, laughing.  
"So are you coming?"  
"I suppose..." said Lily with a sigh, putting her book back in her bag.  
"Don't sound too enthusiastic or anything..."   
They exited the library and made their way outside.  
When they reached Hogsmeade, James immediately dragged her into Zonko's Joke Shop.  
"I need to find something to get Sirius back for putting Dung Bombs in my bed," he muttered, searching the shelves.  
"How about this?" Lily suggested, holding up a bag of itching powder.  
James shook his head. "I've used that heaps of times already.... oh excuse me." He had bumped into an aged wizard searching the shelves in front of him.  
'Watch it, laddie," the wizard snarled, turning his back on them. James scowled at him.  
"Miserable old bat," he muttered. He suddenly snatched the itching powder still in Lily's hand, and emptied the whole the down the wizard's robes.  
"Run!" he hissed at Lily, dragging her out of the shop. Lily got out the door just in time to hear the wizard's first yelp.  
James was laughing but Lily was furious.  
"You could have gotten us both into trouble," she said angrily.  
"He deserved, the git," he said, still laughing. "I wish I could have seen his face..."  
Lily was very tempted to laugh at that point, but quickly turned away and started marching up the road again. She heard James coming after her and felt him put his hand on her shoulder.  
'Look,' he said. "I'll make it up to you... how about we go to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer? I'll shout."  
Lily allowed herself be steered into the restaurant, and once she was in there she was glad James had made the suggestion because she had forgotten to bring a cloak and was freezing. She took a table next to one of the rather magnificent Christmas trees and waited for James. He came back with two bottles of Butterbeer and some Cauldron Cakes.  
"So you never told me," said James, opening his bottle, "why are you staying at Hogwarts for Christmas this year?"  
Lily shrugged. "My parents had to go to New Zealand to take care of my grandmother, she's sick. And my older sister is staying at her friend's house."  
"I didn't know you had an older sister," said James, looking interested. "She didn't come to Hogwarts, did she?"  
"No, she's not a witch... actually, she's kind of afraid of witches...' Lily quickly changed the subject. "Why are you here for Christmas?"  
"My dad's an Unspeakable for the Ministry of Magic, he had to go away for some kind of emergency. My mother died just after I was born." He looked sad.  
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know," said Lily uncomfortably.  
"It's okay, I don't really remember her anyway," James said, though he still looked slightly depressed.  
After they had finished at the Three Broomsticks, James dragged her to the Crayzee Palace, which was a Wizarding Video Game Arcade, only much more exciting than the Muggle ones.  
Lily was playing a game where you had to use your wand to blast through a wall of goblins to reach the prize in the limit of one minute, and was having so much fun playing it over and over again (she never could seem to get the prize) when she felt a tap on her shoulder.  
"Ready to go?" James asked her. Lily glanced down at her watch  
"Oh, I didn't realize we were here for so long. We're going to be late for tea... where'd you get that?"  
She noticed that James was holding a small teddy bear that was clutching a bag of Honeydukes chocolates.  
"Won it that game over there," he said, pointing vaguely over his shoulder. He shoved the bear into his pocket. "C'mon, let's go."  
The walked out the door and headed back to Hogwarts. Lily said goodbye to James in the Entrance Hall and went back to her dormitory to change her robes for tea.  
Christmas dinner at Hogwarts was nothing short of magnificent. There were turkeys and puddings to fill up everyone, and somehow, it was a lot more fun than at breakfast. Whether it was because Lily had more of an appetite then before, or because James kept making her laugh by pulling hideous faces behind Snape's back, Lily didn't know, but she knew that she was having more fun then she'd had in days.  
After tea, she went to her dormitory and looked around, wondering what to do. Her eyes fell on her Cleansweep Three. She hadn't had a chance to try it yet. She glanced outside. It had stopped snowing and would still be light for at least another hour. The Quidditch pitch would be abandoned so there was no chance of making a fool of herself in front of someone... now was as good a time as any.  
Making up her mind, she picked up the broomstick and went outside to the Quidditch pitch. Then she cautiously mounted her broom and kicked off.  
The broomstick shot straight up in the air. Lily looked down, gave a small yelp, and quickly aimed her broomstick into a very wobbly dive to the ground.  
She toppled gently off onto the snow, breathing hard. She hadn't expected it to be hard riding a broomstick-- she had seen people do it Quidditch countless times-- but it really was quite difficult. She picked up the broom again, determined to fly properly this time, and was about to kick off when she felt someone come up behind her.  
"You need do hold it more like this," said a voice, then someone took her fingers and rearranged the grip she had around the stick. Lily looked up and saw James grinning down at her.  
"Sorry," he said. "I needed a bit of extra practice for Quidditch and I didn't expect you to be here... nice broom," he added. Lily noticed that he had his own broom with him and wondered how long he had been watching her. She hoped he hadn't been there long enough to see her pathetic dive.  
"When you kick off, don't look down, just look straight across from where you are," James said. "And lean forward a bit to get a little extra speed."  
"Okay," Lily said. She gripped her broomstick, took a deep breath, and kicked off. She soared high up again, but this time she didn't look down, she forced herself to stare straight in front of her. She suddenly realized that she was soaring through the air, and leant forward a bit to get a little extra burst of speed.  
She saw James fly up next to her, grinning.  
"That's it! Want me to teach you how to dive?"  
Lily nodded, smiling.  
"Just point your broomstick straight down, then when you're close to the ground, pull your broomstick up. Don't be scared of crashing. We'll go together on the count of three. One... two.... three!" James yelled.  
Lily pulled her broomstick down a James had instructed and felt herself diving straight down.  
"Ahhhh!" she screamed. James was flying next to her, grinning, she quickly pulled her broomstick upright and came out of the dive.  
James continued to teach her new tricks long after dark had fallen, until at last she got off her broomstick and fell into the snow, exhausted.  
"You flew well," said James, flopping breathlessly beside her.  
"Thanks," said Lily. "I never knew I could fly like that...the only other time I've gotten on a broomstick was the flying lesson we had in our first year. We had that lesson with the Hufflepuffs and Madame Hooch spent half the lesson trying to get them all out of the sky."  
They both laughed. James looked at his watch.  
"It's late, we'd better be getting back to the castle. Come on..." James helped Lily up and gave her her broomstick. "Let's go..."  
They walked back to the castle together.  
"Well, I guess I'd better be going back to my dormitory now," said Lily when they reached the Entrance Hall. "Thanks for a lovely evening... and for taking me to Hogsmeade and everything."  
"That's okay," said James, looking rather embarrassed. He suddenly dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the bear he had won at the Crayzee Palace. "Here, you can have this... I don't want it."  
'Ooh, thanks," said Lily, surprised but rather touched. She hesitated a moment, then quickly kissed him on the cheek.  
"Merry Christmas, James."  
"Merry Christmas, Lily."  
And they both turned and walked away from each other, perhaps a bit quicker than they would have done under regular circumstances.  
  
*****  
  
The Christmas holidays passed pleasantly enough. Though Lily didn't realize it, she and James were beginning to spend quite a bit of time together, whether they were studying, playing chess in empty classrooms or alone outside with James giving her flying lessons.  
The holidays also gave Lily quite a bit of spare time which Lily spent organizing her house-elf rebellion. James teased her a lot about this while they were up in the library, but Lily was determined.  
"It's easy for you to joke around," she said irritably after James had poked fun of her obsession for the twentieth time that day. "I have to do twice as much work as I need to be doing because you won't help me."  
But James just tweaked her nose affectionately and laughed.  
The holidays soon ended and the castle was filled with the hustle and bustle of everyone coming back. Lessons started up again which were getting even harder, and with the stress of the N.E.W.Ts coming up, there was barely time for any fun for the seventh years.  
Lily, Genevieve and Sara spent little of their time outside the library studying, but none more than Lily who, on top of all her school work, had managed to complete her arguments based on Elf rights which, all up, ended up to be fifty-three feet and eleven inches long.  
"Finished," she said in satisfaction, stapling the pieces of parchment together in the top left corner.  
"What's this?" asked Sara, picking up the stapler and staring at it in fascination.  
"It's kind of a Muggle thing that puts things together," said Lily distractedly. She picked up her books and began stowing them away in her bag. "I'll run this over to Dumbledore now and see what he thinks."  
Sara and Genevieve both shrugged in response and continued working. None of them had been very enthusiastic about Lily's house-elf ideas.  
Lily picked up her "Elf Rights" and walked to walked down a flight of stairs and down a corridor, stopping in front of a rather ugly stone gargoyle that led to Dumbledore's office. As Head Girl she had been told the password up to the office.  
"Licorice wand," she said to it. It jumped aside. She went up the revolving staircase, and knocked on the door.  
There was a pause and then, "Come in."  
Lily pushed open the door and went inside. Dumbledore was at his desk reading some papers, but looked up when Lily came in.  
"Ah, Miss Bronwell," he said smiling. "Pray, sit down."  
Lily obediently sat down opposite him.  
"So what brings you here on this fine evening?" Dumbledore asked.  
Lily took a deep breath. "Professor Dumbledore, I've spent most of this year researching house-elves."  
Dumbledore raised his eyebows. "Indeed?"  
"Yes, and it seems as though their enslavement goes back centuries-yet, nobody's done anything about it," Lily said. "I--I don't think it's right that house-elves aren't allowed salaries and holidays and proper clothes, and things that most wizards have... I think they should be paid, and that all of them should be free. That's why I'm here... I thought that if we could organize a day off for all the house-elves in this school we'd be able to show them to stand up for themselves and ask for pay and everything else."  
Dumbledore merely looked at her.  
"I've-I've written down what I think house-elves have the right to do," Lily said, placing the parchment in her hand on the table.  
Dumbledore looked down at the parchment and sighed.  
"I see," he said. Then he looked back up at Lily. "Miss Bronwell, you are not the first person from this school who has tried to stand up for rights of house-elves. There have been many before you, and I have no doubt, manymore afterwards. But," he said. "Do you think Hogwarts would force house-elves to work without pay if they wanted it?"  
"No, of course not, I--"  
"We are not doing the house-elves an unkindness. It is in their blood to obey their masters, they would think it disgraceful to be paid."  
"Yes, but what if we could change all that? Make them want pay and holidays and the rest?" Lily asked desperately. "If we could just--"  
"Miss Bronwell, do you think that just one day off will change what has been true for centuries?"  
Lily looked at the ground. Then she said, "I'm sure that if they knew how unfairly they are being treated, they would want to be free."  
Dumbledore looked at her for a long while. Then he said, "Miss Bronwell, do you have Mr Potter's approval of this? He is, after all, the Head Boy, and you should discuss such things with him first before coming to me."  
"Well, I tried to, but he took it as some kind of joke and refused to help me." Lily's heart was sinking. She had worked so hard, and the house-elves were still going to be enslaved. She supposed she shouldn't have expected to be able to change the school so everything went her way. It had only bought disappointment.  
"I will grant you permission to help the house-elves," said Dumbledore.  
Lily looked up in shock.  
"You will?" she said.  
Dumbledore nodded. "But before you begin, you must do two things. One is to get the approval of James Potter on the idea and have him take on a more active roll. And number two is to get two hundred signatures from students in the school who agree with you in the rights of house-elves. If you do not get both these things, you are not permitted to disturb the elves."  
James' approval and two hundred signatures! It would be easy after all the research she had done.  
"Yes, sir," said Lily breathlessly, picking up her parchment and her bag. "Thank-you, sir!" And she ran out of the room.  
  
*****  
  
Lily didn't get a chance to see James until the end of Defense Against the Dark Arts, her last subject for the day. She caught sight of him in the Charms corridor talking to Sirius, Remus and Peter Pettigrew.  
"James!" she called. James stopped and turned around.  
"Hi Lily," he said as Lily made her way towards him. "You know, we haven't been flying together in ages and I've learnt some new tricks, maybe we can--"  
"I need to talk to you," she cut in. Then she glanced at Sirius, Remus, and Peter. "Alone."  
She tried to ignore the suggestive looks Sirius and Remus were giving each other.  
"Well, don't let us hold you up," Sirius said. 'Come on Remus. And you Peter," he added and they walked off, Remus glancing behind at them.  
"Come on," Lily muttered, and dragged James into an empty class room.  
"What's this all about?" said James when the door was closed.  
"It's about house-elves," Lily began, but James was already rolling his eyes.  
"Not house-elves again," he said. "I thought you were finished with that stuff."  
"Not by a long shot," said Lily, rather coldly. "I asked Dumbledore if we could give the elves a day off, and he said I could if I had your approval and if we could get two hundred signatures from students agreeing with the idea."  
James sighed and looked at her side ways.  
"You aren't going to give up on this house-elf stuff, are you?" he said.  
"No!" Lily exploded. "Not until they get proper pay and holidays and-- hey!" She was interrupted by the fact that James and just grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close to him. "James, what are you--"  
But she was silenced again, because James had just lowered his face to hers and gently kissed her on the lips.  
They drew apart and James and grinned down at the stunned look on her face. He gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said "See you tomorrow, Lily."  
Then he was gone, leaving Lily alone with her very confused thoughts.  
  
*****  
  
Lily slowly made her way down the stairs towards the common room. Her feelings were as tangled up as ever and for some reason, she was still tingling from the kiss James had given her.  
"Sugar babies," she said to the portrait listlessly. The door swung open and she stepped inside.  
She hurried to her dormitory before anyone could talk to her and quickly drew the curtains around her bed. She needed to be alone to sort out her feelings.  
Was she... could she be in love with James Potter? She couldn't be! James was always so rude and caused havoc wherever he went. She remembered when she had gone to Zonko's with him, how he had emptied that bag of itching powder down the old wizard's top and almost gotten her into trouble, how he was always teasing her about her obsession with house-elves, and how he pulled her hair and tweaked her nose just because he knew it annoyed her...  
But... but then there had been other times as well... like the night he had taken her to the formal, and how he had taught her how to ride a broomstick and gone riding with her at night, how he had been so sweet in giving her that teddy bear for Christmas, and how she still slept with it in bed...  
Lily buried her face in her pillow. There was no denying it. She was in love.  
But why, why, why did it have to be with James Potter?  
  
*****  
  
Lily woke up early the next morning and dressed in her black school robes. She hesitated a moment, but then she unpinned the Head Girl badge from it and put it in her pocket.  
She quietly walked down the stairs , climbed out of the portrait and made her way to the second floor, stopping, as she had the night before, in front of the stone gargoyle.  
"Licorice Wand," she said to it. It jumped aside. She quickly made her way upstairs and knocked on Dumbledore's door.  
"Come in," he said. She walked in.  
"Good morning, Miss Bronwell," he said, smiling at her. "House-elves again?"  
"No, Professor," she said. "Nothing like that."  
"Then what is it you came to see me about so early this morning?"  
Lily hesitated, then reached into her pocket and pulled out her Head Girl badge.  
"I... I came to give this back," she said, and placed it on his desk.  
Dumbledore stared at it.  
"I've decided to resign my position of Head Girl. Someone else can have it."  
Dumbledore looked back up at her. "Explain?"  
"I don't want to be Head Girl anymore. Nobody likes my ideas. I'm not doing anything for the school. I don't want to be selfish, I want to give the job to someone who will do something with it. Some one who'll improve the school. That's all."  
"Lily," said Dumbledore after a moment. "Just because you failed once, it does not mean that you--"  
"I've been failing for the whole year," Lily cut in. "I refused to see that no one else agreed with me on the subject of house-elves. I was selfish and only thought of myself. I quit being Head Girl."  
Dumbledore was silent for a while. Then he said, "I cannot force you to remain Head Girl at this school, however much I would like you to. However, if you insist upon you decision and you have made up your mind..."  
"I have," said Lily.  
Dumbledore sighed deeply. "Then you are dismissed of your position. The job will be given to someone else."  
Lily nodded and quickly turned away so that Dumbledore couldn't see the tears in her eyes.  
  
*****  
  
Lily had just finished breakfast when James caught up to her.  
"Lily, I need to talk to you," he said. He was not smiling.  
Lily nodded and James grabbed her arm and dragged her to a corner of the Great Hall.  
"Dumbledore told me you resigned," he said.  
"Yes."  
"Why?" James demanded. "I thought everything was going okay. You can't give the job to someone else!"  
Lily looked away. "I-- I just can't take the job. I'm not improving the school in any way... I didn't want to be selfish. Someone else can have it."  
"Lily," James said. He gripped her arm very hard. "No one's done more for this school than you have. I promise, I'll help you with the house-elf thing and everything, just--"  
"I've made up my mind," Lily said. She looked into his eyes. "I'm not taking it back."  
"Lily, if-" James broke off, looking uncomfortable. "If it's got anything to with last night then I--"  
"It's has nothing to do with that," Lily said quickly. She glanced up at him. His hair was untidy again. She felt a strange desire to smooth it down. She quickly shook it from her head. "I'm going to be late for class. I'll see you later."  
She walked off, leaving James alone.  
  
*****  
  
The whole day seemed to pass horribly slowly. She couldn't pay attention in any of her classes, she just stared blankly at her parchment, but every time she did that, the lines and creases on it somehow managed to rearrange themselves into James Potter's face.  
Genevieve and Sara kept asking her what was wrong, but she didn't want to tell them, they had been shocked enough when she had told them that she had resigned her post as Head Girl. Probably the thought of her being in love with James would sent them both into a coma.  
The hours dragged on until at last, it was bedtime, and Lily could make her way up to the comforting privacy of her bed. She tried to get to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she couldn't help but see James' face and dream of touching it, holding it, kissing it...  
She moaned and rolled over. She was never going to get to sleep. She got up and pulled her robes over her pyjamas, then snuck out of the dormitory and went out through the portrait. She crept down the corridors to the entrance hall, praying that she wouldn't bump into anybody, and then finally, she was outside.  
There were still patches of snow on the grass, damp reminders that winter had just gone, but everything else was clear and green for Spring. The full moon hung like a silver lantern in the sky, giving the Forbidden Forest a dark and rather frightening look.  
Lily walked along the edge of the lake, trying to clear her mind of any left over thoughts of James, but it was no use, visions kept coming up to her. Pictures of them dancing together, drinking Butterbeer in Hogsmeade, riding on broomsticks ... she sighed as she collapsed onto the ground next to the lake. She was in love all right and she had it bad. She glanced into the lake at her reflection, and what she saw did exactly what she didn't think would have been possible at that moment, it drew all thoughts of James Potter out of her mind.  
Reflected in the lake, and coming straight towards her was a stag with what looked like a fat rat on its shoulder, and a large and rather shaggy black dog. But what was really making her panic was what was between the stag and the dog. Between them was a grey wolf, but not just any wolf. Its snout was longer then normal and its eyes glittered with malice... it was a werewolf.  
Lily whirled around and locked eyes with the werewolf. She could see the gleam of triumph in its eyes, that she was his and there was no escaping, and he was right, behind her was the lake and on her other side was the forest, and if the wolf didn't get her first, something in the forest was sure to.  
The werewolf suddenly broke into a loping run straight toward her. Lily fled, screaming into the forest. Every inch of her was on fire, she wanted to stop and take a breath but she couldn't. Gasping, clutching at the pain in her side, she ran through the forest, trees whipping her face, roots tripping her up...  
She glanced behind her, but the werewolf was still there. It seemed that the stag and dog were trying to stop him, but she didn't care, she just wanted to get as far away as possible from the werewolf and her death.  
Suddenly, she tripped and sprawled onto the forest floor. She stayed conscious just long enough to see the werewolf's triumphant face, then everything went black.  
  
*****  
  
"Lily. Lily!"  
The world seemed very fuzzy to Lily when she opened her eyes. Someone kept shaking her and calling her name. She didn't want to get up. She moaned and shut her eyes tighter.  
"Lily! Are you okay?"  
Lily opened her eyes. Everything came slowly back into focus. She could see James crouched over her, looking very pale and scared. Behind him, she saw Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew watching her.  
"Where am I?" she muttered, trying to get up. James helped her sit up.  
"We're in the Transfiguration room," said James soothingly. "Now just--"  
Suddenly Lily remembered. "James!" she gasped, looking around her wildly. "We need to tell someone, there was a werewolf, it was--"  
"Shah!" Sirius hissed. "Someone might hear us." Peter looked nervously around him.  
"But-- but the--"  
"Don't worry," said James. "Its all been taken care of."  
Lily struggled to understand. "What happened?"  
James sighed quietly. "It was Remus."  
Lily stared at him in shock. "Remus is a werewolf?"  
James nodded. "Yeah. He is."  
"And I saw... I saw a dog. And a stag. And a rat," Lily said. "They were trying to stop the werewolf from getting me--"  
"That was us," said James quietly. "We're Animagus."  
Lily looked bewildered. "What--"  
"We took the potion in our fifth year," James said. "I was the stag. Sirius was the dog. Peter was the rat."  
"I still don't understand. How could... it must have taken you--" She was overcome by a wave of dizziness. She clutched James' arm.  
"Lie still for a moment," James said. He was staring at Sirius who looked livid.  
"You shouldn't have told her," Sirius said angrily. "She'll probably go running straight to Dumbledore now that she knows the truth..."  
"I had to," James said, just as angry. "She was almost killed, she has to know."  
"Does she have to? Or is it because you like her?" Sirius said nastily.  
There was a very ugly silence.  
James sighed. "We'll talk about this later. You two go back to the dormitory, I'll take Lily back to the Ravenclaw common room under the Invisibility cloak."  
"I bet you will," said Sirius, rather harshly. Her turned to Peter. 'C'mon, Peter, let's go."  
They walked out of the room.  
"Lily," said James turning back to her. "We need to you get back to your common room."  
Lily nodded and struggled to her feet. James dug into his robes and pulled out a silvery cloak. He threw it over them.  
"Come on," he whispered. "No one will see us now."  
They slowly walked out of the Transfiguration room and out into the corridor. It was funny, Lily thought as they made their way down the marble stair case, she had felt nothing but absolute awe and confusion when she had been in the Transfiguration room with him. Now she was suddenly very aware at just how close together they were, and her stomach was beginning to churn very hard. She tried to tell herself that this was no time for any romantic thoughts-- she had almost been killed by a werewolf!-- but her funny feelings toward him continued, until at last, they were outside the Ravenclaw common room. She looked up and saw James staring at her, his eyes flickering strangely.  
"I... I'd like to thank you James... for saving my life," Lily said.  
"You wouldn't have come close to loosing it if I it weren't for me," said James, shaking his head. Lily didn't know what to say, so she stayed silent.  
"Well, bye then," she said at last, beginning to move away from him and the cloak, but James suddenly pulled her back.  
"No, wait," he said. He looked down at the ground and took a deep breath. "I... I have something to tell you Lily." He paused. "I... I'm in love with you Lily, I have been, ever since that night at the formal... I couldn't tell you, I didn't know how... though you probably don't even want to know me now that you know my stupidity almost killed you." He gave a short and bitter laugh.  
"Oh, James..." Lily said. She didn't know what to say, so she reached up and kissed him instead.  
Suddenly, it didn't seem to matter that she wasn't Head Girl anymore, or that the house-elves were never going to be free, or that Dumbledore was so disappointed in her, everything felt the way it should, just because she was with James.  
They broke apart and Lily realized that James had put his arms around her. She leaned her head against his chest and laughed.  
'Oh, James," she said again. 'I-- I've been in love with you too...I didn't realize it at first, not until last night, and that's why I resigned being Head Girl, not because I thought I was being selfish, only because I was scared... scared of being in love with you."  
"Lily," James said seriously. He lifted her chin so that she was looking straight into his eyes. "You don't ever have to be afraid of loving me. I would never to anything to hurt you."  
"I know," Lily whispered, and when James kissed her again, her heart felt lighter then it had in days.  
Standing in a cold corridor past midnight, hidden under an Invisibility cloak was hardly her idea as a romantic setting, but somehow, Lily wouldn't have wanted it any other way.  
They were so involved at what they were doing they didn't notice Dumbledore going past them. But he just smiled a knowing smile as he went by. After all, no Invisibility cloak can drown the sound of love.  
  
*****  
  
Lily awoke the next morning, smiling, despite the fact that she had almost been killed the night before. Everything was alright... James loved her, she was still alive, and the world suddenly seemed full of endless possibilities that were just hovering out of her reach.  
In fact, there was only one thing missing... something she was going to fix that very minute.  
She quickly changed into new robes and went straight up to the second floor. She stopped in front of the stone gargoyle that let up to Dumbledore's office.  
'Licorice wand," she said. The gargoyle moved aside and she hurried up the staircase, knocked, and entered.  
Dumbledore looked up when she came in and smiled.  
"Miss Bronwell, back so soon?"  
"Umm... yes. I-- I wanted to ask you something."  
"Yes?"  
"Yes. I wanted to see if I could take the responsibility on Head Girl back again," she said hurriedly, looking at the ground, but Dumbledore smiled.  
"Of course you can Lily... I was hoping you'd come back to reclaim it before I gave the job away to someone else..." He opened a draw at his desk, rummaged around in it, then gave her back the badge. "I knew you were going to come back for it anyway... after all, you can only run away from love for so long."  
He smiled at the stunned look on Lily's face. "Yes, I heard you both last night under Mr Potter's Invisibility cloak." His moustache quivered slightly. "But Lily," he said more seriously. "You cannot run away from love. Embrace it, and make the most of those who love you the most."  
Lily, still a bit awestruck, nodded quietly and left. As soon as she had stepped out of the passageway, she found herself being swept up into an empty class room and kissed straight on the lips.  
"I had a feeling you'd be going back to Dumbledore this morning," James said to her, after they'd pulled apart. He grinned devilishly. "So I waited for you. Got your badge back?"  
"Yes. " Lily showed it to him. Then she said, "Couldn't you have waited until after breakfast?"  
"No," said James, gazing down at her fondly. "I'm crazy in love with you." And he swept her up and kissed her again.  
"Is Sirius still mad?" Lily asked him. James' face darkened slightly.  
"He'll get over it," he said quietly. "Now how about some breakfast?"  
  
*****  
  
The next few months were Lily's happiest at Hogwarts. She was seldom found anywhere without James, Sirius seemed to have warmed up considerably towards her after the night he and James had rescued her from Remus (she had also noticed him eyeing Genevieve quite a bit), Remus had apologized endlessly for trying to kill her, Lily and James had both gotten top scores for their N.E.W.Ts, and life, altogether seemed too perfect to be true.  
Then came their last day at Hogwarts.  
Lily climbed abroad the Hogwarts Express with Genevieve and Sara close behind her. It was hard to believe that she would be leaving Hogwarts after all those years of schooling there... Lily sighed. Hogwarts wasn't the only thing she would have to say goodbye to today.  
The drive back was uneventful, unless you counted Sirius bewitching Genevieve's Cauldron Cakes so they turned a nasty shade of green.  
"I can't eat these now," she said in disgust, shoving them back in the paper bag and throwing them at Sirius who ducked, laughing.  
When they got off the train, James pulled Lily aside.  
"Lily," he said to her when they were alone. "You know, we won't be able to see each other as often now."  
"Yes, I know," Lily said soberly. It was the moment she had been dreading. Saying goodbye.  
"Well, I think that there should be some changes in our relationship..."  
Lily didn't understand at first. Then it dawned on her. "You-you want to break up?" she csaid, feeling an odd stinging in her eyes.  
'No, no, it's not that," said James hastily. Then he said, "Lily, I've never felt this way about anyone before... I love you so much, I hate being apart from you because I'm always afraid I'll never see you again... you're so... you're so perfect. That's why...." he suddenly knelt down on the ground and plunged his hands into his pocket. "That's why I'm asking you to marry me Lily." He slowly slid the ring on her finger. "Say yes," he whispered. "Please say yes."  
Lily stared at the ring. Could she... was she ready? Did she really want to marry James?   
Yes! her mind screamed. Yes, yes, yes!  
'Yes!" Lily yelled aloud, and she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. And she could feel his arms around her and heard him whispering, "Thank-you, Lily," into her ear.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%THE END (finally!)%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Claimer: Mr and Mrs Brownwell, Nelvin, Genevieve Gobswopped, Sara LaBeema, Professor Diress, Professor Hillaway, Evan Cunnings, Penelope McFallingtom, Susie MacMillan, Chinkey, and Gordan Cumpoff belong to me.  
  
Disclaimer: Everyone else belongs to JK Rowling.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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